Sam Sundquist »
Redbox Roundup: One-Sentence Reviews of 10 Movies You Can Rent Tonight!
A non-message movie with a message, Arbitrage lulls you with gripping drama then abruptly exposes the mirage of modern finance; it deserves the #11 spot on every critic’s top-ten list for 2012. While lacking
Read More »Seattle On Film: The Vanishing (1993)
Years ago, my friend’s crashed car was towed, not to the nearest city, but to North Bend, an exurb about 30 miles from Seattle. Later, my own car broke down outside of North Bend,
Read More »Song of the Day: Depeche Mode “Walking In My Shoes” (1993)
Since the days of Hume, the “fact/value distinction” has remained a perpetual philosophical concern. And few bands have lyrically reveled in the way the world is, as opposed to the way it ought to
Read More »Seattle On Film: ‘Rock Star’ (2001)
Listen to an ’80s-rock anthem like Poison’s “Nothing But a Good Time,” then follow it up by listening to an early-’90s dirge by Nirvana or Alice in Chains. The specific preoccupations remain, but the
Read More »“The Master”: Four Responses
ANDREW HACKETT The Master was one of the most critically acclaimed and polemic films of 2012. PT Anderson has impacted people with original works like Boogie Nights, Magnolia and There Will be Blood. When it was announced
Read More »Staley’s Requiem
Layne Staley never commanded the fanatical devotion of Kurt Cobain, and no one ever breaks the ice by asking what you were doing when you first heard he had died. Even so, I do
Read More »Song of the Day: School of Seven Bells “The Night” (2012)
The end of a year invariably heralds the publication of a legion of “best of” lists, and indeed, last December Will the Fire’s founder entered the fray with his “Best Albums of 2012” article. I
Read More »Someone Had to Review ‘The Hobbit’
I once took a journey which, while not entirely unexpected, did take me there and back again. On or about my 13th birthday, I made the trip to and from my local grocery store
Read More »Song of the Day: The Band “Christmas Must Be Tonight” (1977)
Few songs ever have proved as endearing – and enduring – as the traditional Christmas carols. Thus, new Yuletide hymns pique my interest; when I hear them, I listen intently to perceive what they
Read More »Song of the Day: Patti Smith “We Three Kings” (1997)
Radio stations and retail outlets have a captive audience this time of year, and the profusion of uninspired Christmas music tests the patience of even confirmed “Noelophiles” such as myself. This December, my “song
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